


Learning Curve

by ginger_mosaic



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Loki: Agent of Asgard, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Young Avengers
Genre: BFFs, Day At The Beach, Depression, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Making Friends, Social Anxiety, Summer, Team Bonding, just for fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-07 18:52:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4274226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginger_mosaic/pseuds/ginger_mosaic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Making new friends is hard, but it takes two to tango, and they both have some learning to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Learning Curve

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't help myself. It's that time of year, and I need brotherly bonding and friendship because everything hurts.
> 
> Takes place after AOA #4, but before #5, and somewhere in the middle of Kate's journey of self-discovery in LA.
> 
> Also pretend that you can have fire pits AND pets on the beach at this beach because Fiction. (Definitely-Not-Poisoned cookies to anyone who guesses which beach it is!)

Verity is just thinking that it’s one of those days where she is just going to curl up in bed with a book when Loki practically kicks down her door and declares that today is a beach day.

“Loki, it’s raining,” she says. He is standing in the hallway wearing a black tank top with broad white letters spelling out _BRO DO YOU EVEN MISCHIEF_ , green shorts, and a wide grin.

“Why should that stop us?” he asks, stepping past her into her apartment. He is carrying a duffel bag and wearing flip flops, which show off the polish on his toes.

“Nice pedi,” Verity says.

He looks down and wiggles his toes, which are black as usual, but today they’re decorated with gold stars. “Thanks,” he says. “It’s Kate’s handiwork. She says they’re gold stars for being not as big a jerk as I could have been. Do you have a suit?”

“Again: It’s raining.”

Loki grins. “Not in California, it isn’t.”

 

* * *

 

Kate pops her gum and leans against her car. “For people who can travel with super-human powers, you guys sure are late a lot.”

“Hey, I’m here on time, Princess,” says America.

“ _Today_ you are. But I swear, someday you’ll all show up late to the end of the world, and I’ll have to fight everything off myself.”

“I believe in you. Just give us time to be Big Damn Heroes.”

Kate laughs. “You’ve been hanging around Billy lately, haven’t you?”

America shrugs. “Just keeping an eye on him.”

Kate grins. America can deny it all she wants, but Kate knows America likes Billy. She may act like she’s too cool for His Supreme Dorkiness, but she likes him the same way she likes them all. Otherwise, why would she keep coming back?

Kate checks her phone and shoots a “ _where u at_ ” to Loki. She ran into him yesterday at a fancy party they both happened to be infiltrating for separate missions (or so he claimed) and after a few drinks and a nail-polishing sesh, Kate suggested a beach day, complete with bikinis, beach volleyball, and handsome older brothers named Thor.

“Well, I certainly can’t pass up a chance to see women in bikinis,” Loki had said with a sly grin. He took her punch like a nearly indestructible superbeing.

So Kate called up America and Loki promised to invite Thor, though Kate has no real expectations that he actually did. She isn’t even sure they still get along.

Her phone vibrates with Loki’s reply: _sry. stuck in traffic_.

Whatever that means.

Lucky sits up and barks from the back seat, and Kate glances over her shoulder to look in the same direction. When Lucky barks again, Kate reaches over to scratch his head.

“It’s okay, Lucky, it’s just Loki,” she says.

“Nah, I agree with the dog,” says America.

“Did he bring a friend?” asks Kate, squinting. Loki is walking down the sidewalk with a red-haired woman wearing glasses and an NYU sweater. She has her hands in the sweater’s pocket, but Loki is waving to Kate and America animatedly, his grin wide under his sunglasses. Kate waves back and pushes herself up from her car.

“You’re late,” she says, hands on her hips, as they approach.

Loki huffs. “A wizard is never late, Kate Bishop, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.”

“Billy’s the Tolkien nerd, not me.”

“I miscalculated the trip,” Loki explains, lifting his oversized rhinestone-covered sunglasses from his eyes and putting them on his head. “We ended up at Second Street.”

“That’s a good two cities away,” Kate tells him.

He shrugs, and then gestures to the woman next to him. “This is Verity. It’s been raining in New York, so I thought a short reprieve was in order. Verity, Kate and America.”

Lucky barks.

“And this is Lucky,” says Kate. “Say hi, Lucky.”

He barks again twice, and Kate laughs at the astonished look on Loki’s face. “Okay, out, boy,” she says, opening the car door. Lucky jumps out and trots straight to Loki and his friend to sniff at them. He seems more curious about Loki until Verity crouches down and scratches his head.

“Hi, Lucky,” she says, and Lucky turns to her, panting, and wags his tail as she rubs his face.

Kate laughs. “He likes you,” she tells Verity. “He never wags his tail at Clint.”

“He’s a sweetie,” says Verity, avoiding Lucky’s attempt to lick her face.

“He’s Barton’s?” asks Loki, and he reaches down to pet Lucky, but he yanks his hand back when Lucky barks and growls at him.

“Uh-oh, Loki, he knows you’re bad,” teases Kate. Loki scowls at her and Verity rubs Lucky’s shoulders.

“Oh, he’s not that bad once you get to know him,” says Verity. She reaches up and grabs Loki’s wrist, pulling him down into a crouch, and this time Lucky lets Loki scratch his head.

“I’ve had the opposite experience,” says America, and Loki shoots her an unamused look.

“I’m surprised he growled at you,” says Kate. “Don’t you usually carry bacon everywhere?”

Loki smirks up at her. “I ate all my pocket bacon on the way here,” he says, rubbing Lucky’s chest. “Perhaps he knows. Or maybe he can smell all the pussy I’ve been getting lately.”

He laughs as Verity shoves him and then he rises to his feet.

“By which he means he’s been feeding stray cats on the fire escape,” says Verity.

“Hey, cats are great.”

“You don’t like dogs?” asks Kate, raising a suspicious eyebrow. She doesn’t really trust people who don’t like dogs, and that would just be another mark against Loki.

Loki shrugs and seems to want to say more, but he glances at Verity and only shrugs again.

“Where’s Thor?” asks Kate.

“Dunno. I’m not his keeper,” he says, and then when Kate sighs, he adds, “He’s coming. He seemed pretty excited, actually.”

“Because he’s been wanting to spend more time with you,” says Verity, still kneeling next to Lucky. He’s wagging his tail so hard, Kate is afraid he’s going to want to go home with Verity. Damn disloyal dog.

“I opened Pandora’s box by inviting him to dinner that night, didn’t I?” muses Loki.

“He calls _me_ when you don’t pick up your damn phone.”

“Since when do _you_ not pick up your phone?” says America.

“Since Noh-varr learned how to use emojis,” says Loki.

Kate laughs, and Verity snorts and finally stands up.

“You’re one to talk,” she says. “What about that day when you texted me in nothing _but_ icons?”

Loki grins and looks prepared to retort, but then he glances up and shields his eyes with a hand.

“Ah, there’s Asgard’s golden son,” he says.

Thor drops down from the sky onto the sidewalk and the ground shakes. He’s wearing red shorts and a white t-shirt, and his hair is tied back at the nape of his neck in a ponytail. Lucky barks and Kate goes to hold him back, but the dog slips through her arms and runs at Thor. He trots in a curious circle around Thor as the big blond man stows his hammer in what looks to be a small guitar case. Thor casually pats Lucky on the head as he walks toward them, a friendly smile on his face.

Loki steps up to greet him. “Thor, a fancy entrance isn’t going to make us forget that you’re late.”

Thor chuckles. “It’s good to see you, too, Loki,” he says, clapping a hand on Loki’s shoulder. He waves to Kate, America, and Verity. “Thank you for the invitation, Kate Bishop.”

“Thanks for coming,” says Kate happily. “The weather’s been decent, and everyone deserves a beach day.”

“That’s what I told Verity,” says Loki, and Thor seems to just notice her.

“Ah, Verity!” he says, heading to her. He takes her hands and Kate sees Loki shift his weight to his other leg and frown briefly before he covers by tipping his sunglasses back down over his eyes.

“How do you fare this day?” Thor asks Verity.

“All right, I guess,” she says, but she winces. “You?”

“Very well. I looked forward to this. I confess, it’s been a long time since I enjoyed a day at a beach.”

“Well, swimming is like riding a bicycle, I’ve heard,” says Loki, strolling up to place a hand on Thor’s shoulder. “And if you drown, well… I suppose someone somewhere will mourn.”

“Jest while you can, Brother. I fully intend to best you at all manner of beach games today.”

“Today is not the day for competition, Thor. But if you insist…”

“All right, quit comparing dong sizes,” says America, stepping between them. “There’s a perfectly good ocean waiting for me to throw chico into it.” She reaches into Kate’s car to grab her bag and the mini cooler.

“We’ll see who throws who,” says Loki, shouldering his duffel and starting down the sand after America.

“It’ll be me, throwing you.”

Thor offers to help Kate carry some things, so she hands him her beach bag and he follows America and Loki. Verity hangs back, watching the others with a sort of sad smile. She looks somewhat forlorn in her baggy sweater and skinny jeans.

“Hey, Verity, can you help me?” asks Kate.

“Yeah, sure,” says Verity, and Kate hands her a beach umbrella and then retrieves her short board from the back seat. They start down the sand with Lucky trotting next to them. Kate feels a little bad for not taking him out very often recently, but with everything that’s happening… Well, she’s not going to think about that. Today is a break for her, too.

Nearer the water, America, Loki, and Thor are setting up camp. Loki kicks sand onto America’s towel and she picks it up to shake it off on him. Thor laughs and it booms across the beach.

“So where’d you find Loki?” asks Kate.

Verity bites her lip and then shrugs. “Where does anyone find a man?”

“So, the trash.”

Verity laughs, and Kate thinks it’s the first real smile she’s worn all day, it lights up her face so much.

“Are you two…?”

Verity shakes her head. “Just friends.”

“How long have you guys been hanging out?” asks Kate. “Gotta admit, I’m mildly surprised. He kinda… Well, before last night, I hadn’t seen him for a few months.”

“Just two months maybe,” says Verity. “He mentioned that you guys are Young Avengers?”

Kate grins. “Yeah. Did he also mention that he’s a backstabbing little shit?”

“Yes, actually.” Verity smiles, but it’s sad again.

“That’s okay,” Kate assures her. “Everyone knows one or two backstabbing little shits. And like you said, he’s not so bad once you get to know him. He painted my toenails last night, after all,” she adds, lifting a foot up in front of them so Verity can see the rather impressive rainbow stripes.

“I saw his pedi, too.”

“We should open a nail salon together. We’ll call it Trick Arrow.”

Verity laughs and as they reach the others, Loki looks up and smiles. And then America pours a handful of sand down the back of his tank top.

“Oops,” says America as Loki shouts and jumps to his feet. “Sorry, chico, it was an accident. The wind did it. I won’t be held accountable for random acts of nature.”

He tries to step on her head, but she grabs his ankle and he has to hop in place to keep his balance. Thor laughs and goes to help Verity with the beach umbrella, and then Kate pushes the cooler into its shade and sits on it to apply sunscreen.

“Oh, crap,” says Verity, watching her. “I forgot mine.”

Loki grimaces guiltily at her from where he’s now sitting on the sand. “Ah. I suppose I may have rushed you.”

“Use mine,” Kate says, tossing it to her. Verity catches it and looks at it for a moment before setting it down to take off her sweatshirt. Loki wolf whistles, and Verity balls up the sweater and throws it at him.

“Watch it, chico,” warns America.

“That was the last one, I promise,” he says, folding up Verity’s sweater and setting it on her towel. Verity rolls her eyes and squeezes some sunscreen into her hand to rub it on her arms where her shirt doesn’t cover her skin. She has a lot of tattoos. Kate can see the bow of her swim suit at the back of her neck, but Verity seems unwilling to strip down further, so Kate takes the lead and pulls her tank top over her head.

Loki wolf whistles again.

“Lucky, attack!” Kate shouts, pointing at Loki. Lucky barks and jumps on Loki, knocking him onto his back. Loki laughs and Lucky pants in his face until Loki rubs his neck and pushes him off. Then Loki rolls to his feet and grabs the end of his ridiculous tank top and yanks it over his head, throwing it aside.

“Last one in is bilgesnipe dung!” he shouts, sprinting toward the water. Lucky barks and chases after him, and Thor jumps up and races to the water, abandoning his white shirt along the way.

Kate sits back to admire the view from afar. America strips down to her blue and white suit, which is sporty rather than stringy like Kate’s purple bikini, and Verity finally takes off her shirt and jeans to reveal her red bikini. They all put on sunscreen and the next time Kate looks over at the water, Loki has his arms and legs wrapped around Thor from behind, and Thor is struggling to throw him off. Finally Thor just throws himself back and they both go crashing into the water. Lucky bounces around the shore, already soaking wet.

“Let’s go,” says America, standing and stretching in the sun. Kate gets up eagerly, but Verity stays seated under the umbrella.

“You guys go,” she says. “I’ll just watch.”

“Aww, come on,” says Kate. “You can’t go to the beach and not at least put your toes in the water.”

Verity bites her lip and Kate wonders what’s wrong until America holds out her hand.

“If your eyes are that bad, I’ll be your eyes,” she says. “And if you can’t swim, we know CPR.”

Verity smirks and reaches up to take off her glasses. “They’re not that bad,” she says, stowing them in her bag, “and I can swim, but… not in the ocean.”

“Then let’s surf instead,” says Kate, patting her board with her foot. “You can sit on the board. I’ll keep you steady.”

“Or only just go in up to your knees,” says America. “No one says you have to throw yourself around like the boys over there,” she adds, gesturing with a thumb over her shoulder to where Loki and Thor are still fighting. Looks like they’re getting along after all.

Verity finally concedes and follows them down to the water. America wades right in fearlessly, but Kate balks at her knees when cold water splashes up her thighs.

“Brr! It’s cold,” she says, shuddering. She sets her board down and looks over her shoulder to where Verity stands in the ankle-deep water, hugging herself nervously. “Come on. Gotta jump right in or you’ll never get used to it.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” says America, riding a wave past Kate. She stands up abruptly and splashes her. “Come on, Princess! No time like the present!”

“AUGH!” Kate kicks out to splash her back, and America jumps out of the way and wades back to Verity.

“Let’s go, Red,” she says, offering her hand to Verity again, and this time, Verity unfolds her arms and takes America’s hand. Kate holds the board so it won’t float away and glances at the boys and gasps.

“Holy shit!”

America whirls around to look at where Kate is pointing. A shark has its jaws clamped on Thor’s arm and he’s pushing on its nose, yelling something unintelligible.

“A shark?” says America, surging forward and Kate would laugh at the absurdity of Miss America and Thor battling a shark if she weren’t so scared.

“No, it’s Loki,” says Verity, and Kate turns to frown at her, but Verity is watching Thor struggle with the shark with an exasperated and almost bored look on her face. “Cut it out, Loki!” she shouts. “We can’t have a beach day if there are reports of shark attacks!”

And suddenly the shark is Loki with his jaws clamped around Thor’s forearm. He releases Thor’s arm and grins at them, and then he ducks his head when Thor tries to put him in a headlock. He has one leg over Thor’s shoulder, and he climbs on top of Thor, trying to avoid his brother’s grasp, but Thor gets hold of his arm and pulls him off. Loki flails and falls into the water, and then Thor picks him up again, ignoring his protests.

“Thor, no, put me down,” says Loki, sputtering and laughing, and then Thor’s grin widens and he lifts Loki up and Loki’s protests grow less amused and more frantic. “No, no, Thor, no, Thor, Thor, THOR—AAAAAAARRRRRGH!”

Thor heaves Loki up and throws him, and Loki goes flying before crashing into the water with a momentous splash.

Kate doubles over with the force of her laughter and Lucky barks and bounds down the beach to pace near where Loki fell. Thor swims over to the girls where they’re standing next to the surfboard, but he stops when something rises out of the water.

For a moment, Kate thinks it’s the creature from the black lagoon, which, after a shark, is the second worst thing that could happen in the middle of their beach day, but then she sees that it’s just Loki draped in seaweed.

“Ha ha ha!” he laughs. “I am Loki, Supreme Sorcerer of the Seas! Tremble before my moist mightiness! Bow down as I—ARGH!”

Thor tackles him and they both go down with another splash that sprays even the girls where they are standing.

“Ugh, he said moist,” complains America.

“If he’d quit it with the alliterations, we’d all be much happier,” agrees Verity, stepping over the surfboard and using America’s hand as support as she sits down.

“How did you know the shark was Loki anyway?” asks Kate, guiding the board over a breaking wave.

Verity grips the edges of the board and bites her lip. “It was just an illusion,” she says. “He says he doesn’t shapeshift very often, unless it’s something he _is_.” She hesitates. “I, um… I can see through illusions. And tell when people are lying.”

Kate blinks. “Whoa, really?”

Verity grimaces and nods.

“Like… it’s a power?”

“I guess?”

“Man, what a headache hanging out with Loki must be.”

Verity actually smiles at that. “He doesn’t lie so much to me.”

Kate is about to comment on the unlikeliness of _that_ when someone grabs her around her waist from behind and lifts her up.

“Katie-Kate!”

Kate tries to elbow Loki in the face but she’s pretty sure she only catches his ear. “Screw you! You don’t get to call me that!” He laughs and she tries to push him away, but he has his arms locked around her waist. “Let go, asshole!”

“I’m gonna throw you, okay?”

“No—”

“Ready?”

“Wait!” she shouts, and he actually does and even loosens his hold on her. She turns and wraps her arms around his neck and bends her knees so he can grab her feet. He lifts her up, one hand under her feet and one on the center of her back.

“Ready?” he asks again.

“Not too far,” she warns him, hugging her knees.

“Watch out for the seaweed patch.”

And then he lifts her and throws her. She screams and laughs as she soars through the air and tucks her head and knees and holds her breath just before she hits the water. When she surfaces, Lucky is barking, and he sounds unhappy so she laughs to reassure him and straightens. Her toes can’t find the bottom so she quickly turns to swim towards the others.

“Okay?” Loki asks when she reaches them.

“Awesome,” she says, and it strikes her that he actually asked permission before throwing her, and it hits her again when Loki turns to Verity.

“See? Kate’s okay,” he says. “I’ll even throw you to Thor. Thor’s trustworthy.”

“Aye,” agrees Thor. “I’ll catch you. And if my brother misfires, rest assured he will be punished.”

“I’m not a ball,” says Verity. Loki and Thor exchange a glance and Verity splashes them angrily. “Jerks!”

“Come on,” says Loki, offering his hand. “I promise to mourn if you die.”

“You planning to kill me?”

“Not in any lifetime.”

Kate raises her eyebrows and glances at America, who looks similarly surprised. Verity sighs and nods, dismounting from the surfboard. She puts her hands on Loki’s shoulders and he grins.

“You look fabulous in that suit, by the way,” he says.

Verity wrinkles her nose and jumps up to push him down. He laughs and lets her push him underwater, but then he wraps his arms around her thighs and lifts her up so she’s leaning over his shoulder. Verity shrieks and pounds him on the back, but he ignores her.

“Ready, Thor?” he shouts over Verity’s protests. Kate would be concerned, but Verity is smiling, and Thor swims a short distance away. “Go long!”

“No! Not too far!”

“19, 6-1-6, 42, hike!”

Verity screams as she flies through the air, but she lands right in front of Thor with a splash and he immediately grabs her. Her laughter is loud and slightly hysterical, but it’s real.

Loki is resting his arms on the surfboard and watching Verity with a small smile. Kate nudges him and raises an eyebrow, and Loki rolls his eyes.

“What’s going on there?” she asks with a sly grin.

He shrugs. “She was having a bad day. I’m just glad she’s enjoying herself.”

That’s cute, but it wasn’t what Kate was asking, and they both know it. So that pretty much answers her question anyway.

“Chavez, want a go?” asks Loki, straightening up.

“Nice try, chico. Don’t,” she warns when he reaches for her anyway. Then she hops up onto the surfboard. “Mind if I take this for a spin, Princess?”

“Go for it.”

America paddles away and Thor and Verity are walking along the waterline, so Loki and Kate head in to meet them.

“How was it?” asks Loki, slinging an arm over Verity’s shoulders and pulling her slightly away from Thor. _Ridiculous_ , Kate thinks.

“I admit, that was more fun than I expected,” says Verity, reaching up to touch his hand.

Loki beams at her. “Again?”

“No.”

He pouts and Kate laughs and drops down to the sand. Lucky runs into her arms, barking happily. He licks her face and she musses his wet fur.

“Ooh, Lucky, you’re gonna make my car smell like wet dog,” she says, squeezing his face between her hands.

“Ah, like Thor,” says Loki, and then Kate hears a grunt and a thump and when she turns, Loki is lying on his back on the sand and Verity is laughing. She kneels down next to him and dumps sand on his chest, and Thor kicks some sand over Loki’s legs and then sits down, too, so Kate turns to help.

“Ahh, what sort of world am I living in that I’m being buried alive by heroes?” Loki laments.

“And me,” says Verity.

“Ah, but you’re _my_ hero,” says Loki with a grin, and Verity snorts.

“Do you wanna be like Verity when you grow up?” teases Kate.

Loki laughs. “I wouldn’t _dare_ to aim so high.”

“I don’t want to be on any pedestal,” says Verity.

“Then stop being perfect—ACK!”

Verity rubs a handful of sand in his hair and he sits up quickly, which gets Lucky excited. He leaps into Loki’s lap and barks in his face. Loki grabs the dog’s face and Lucky growls, so Loki growls back until Lucky tries to pull away, and then Loki quickly rubs Lucky’s neck and stands up.

“You’re _not_ helping,” says Verity, a little testily.

“Sorry, sheesh.” Loki shakes his hair out, but then seems to realize it’s no use and heads down to the water to rinse off. Lucky bounds after him, panting.

“What a little shit you have for a brother, Thor,” says Kate, sitting back and pulling sand into a pile. She thinks maybe she’ll make a sand castle, even though Lucky—or Loki, more likely—will probably smash it. Still, maybe not. Loki _asked_ if he could throw them. She glances at Verity and wonders if it’s her doing.

“Yes, but he’s _my_ little shit of a brother,” says Thor. “It gladdens my heart to see him lively and well.”

And Kate feels a pang of guilt because she remembers what Loki says he did to Thor’s little brother, or at least the version of little brother Thor thinks he is, and then she feels confused because isn’t Loki his brother anyway? Doesn’t Loki seem to love Thor? Didn’t he _actually_ invite him out today?

“He won’t admit it, but he’s glad you came today,” says Verity, making her own pile of sand.

“You as well, Verity,” says Thor, giving her a half smile. “I think he was even worried about you.”

Verity smiles and Kate thinks about Billy. He smiles like that too, when he’s tired. He smiled less when Loki was manipulating them, and for that Kate will never forgive Loki, but she thinks he’s better now, maybe. Both of them. All of them. Billy even talks about Loki fondly and she’s seen him checking Loki’s Instagram. Because, actually, they were all pretty worried about _Loki_ , too. You don’t kill your younger self and try to manipulate _another_ kid into killing himself because you _like_ yourself, after all.

Lucky barks and Kate turns to see Loki coming toward them with an excited smile lighting up his eyes, and Kate thinks of Billy again when something finally _good_ happens. He has both hands clasped around something as he jogs jauntily toward them.

“Uh-oh,” says Thor. “I know that look.”

“Kate, I found something for you,” says Loki, his voice hitching with a slight giggly quality. He crouches down in front of her and holds out his clasped hands.

“For me?” she says dubiously, holding out her hands.

“Pour vous,” he says, and then he dumps a whole handful of sand crabs into her cupped hands.

Kate shrieks and drops them, but she can still feel the way they wriggled around in her palms, searching for a place to dig. She reaches out to wipe her hands on Loki, but he’s already sprinting away. Kate leaps to her feet and gives chase, shouting after him, until he finally slows and lets her catch up to him, ankle-deep in water.

“Asshole!” she shouts, kicking up water at him. He laughs and splashes her back, and they have a brief water fight that ends with both of them sitting in the surf.

“Now you have to carry me back,” Kate tells him, looking over her shoulder at their spot on the beach.

Loki chuckles. “America’s right; you are a princess.”

“No more so than _you_.”

He laughs and pushes himself to his feet, and then turns and bends a little, gesturing to his back. “Hop on.”

She does and he starts down the beach, keeping along the edge of the water to walk on the hard sand. Kate thinks about squeezing her arms around his neck to choke him, still wanting to properly punish him for the sand crabs, but he’s giving her a piggyback ride back to Thor and Verity, so she guesses that’s close enough to an apology and they’re even now.

Well, for today’s transgressions anyway. Then again, time heals all wounds, and looking back… Well, they haven’t exactly forgiven Loki for what he did, but it doesn’t hurt anymore and the anger has faded, replaced with a sort of grim understanding. They hadn’t discussed reaching out to him, which is why Kate surprised even herself when she invited him to the beach. She had called America for reassurance that she hadn’t made a mistake.

“Nah, I’ve been keeping an eye on him,” America said. “Let’s see where he’s at.”

Of course, they had informed the rest of the team, because it was only fair and Kate just couldn’t keep something like this from Billy. He’d given the go ahead; she could only hope that he meant it.

So here’s where he’s at: Loki’s all right. He has a new friend that Kate is pretty sure he hasn’t tricked into hanging around him (Verity sees through lies? _Wow_ ) and he’s getting on well with Thor. He hasn’t even said anything vaguely threatening or mean all day. She sort of wishes he had stuck around to show them _this_ Loki, casually flirty and fun-loving, lacking the air of being up to no good that he had when he was travelling with them.

“We were worried about you, you know,” she says.

He’s humming to himself but he stops when she speaks. It takes him a while to respond. “I, uh… Why?”

Kate shrugs. “You kinda had a major freak-out and then bailed.”

Loki snorts. “You really wanted me to stick around after… everything?”

“Billy was going to introduce you to his _parents_.”

He chuckles. “That boy isn’t very bright, is he?”

“Hey, that’s my best friend you’re talking about.”

“Kate, your best friend isn’t very bright,” says Loki. “He’s lucky he’s cute.”

Kate pinches his ear for that, but she’s smiling. “So Verity seems cool.”

“I’m glad you think so. She’s definitely in the running for Loki’s coveted BFF spot.”

“Is that a very competitive race?”

Loki sniffs. “Rude. _Yes_ , it _is_. It has all the usual contenders: bacon, Lorelei, that barista at the café near my apartment…”

“Wow, I stand corrected. Your social life is _bouncing_.”

“Well, not as busy as _yours_ , I’m sure, what with that man-child you’re always with.”

Kate laughs, but it’s mostly to cover how sad that kind of makes her feel. She always suspected that Loki was lonely, but it’s different to be confronted by it. She can’t imagine not having someone to turn to when she’s scared or sad, or even when something _amazing_ happens and she just _has_ to tell someone. Even out here, she has Finch and Marcus, when she can’t call Billy or the others.

“You should have stayed,” she says.

He shrugs and then bounces her to readjust his grip. “It wasn’t a viable option at the time.”

“Is it now?”

“No.”

Kate frowns. “What about Verity?”

“She’s different. I can’t… I can’t use her, not like I could you guys.”

Kate rests her chin on her arm. “Or, you know, you could just not treat people like things to be _used_.”

“I don’t know how,” he admits quietly, and Kate can’t think of anything to say to that, so they are silent when they finally make it back to where America has joined Thor and Verity near the beach umbrella.

“Uh-oh, chico, what did you do this time?” asks America, looking the two of them up and down. Kate tries to smile, but it’s hard when she’s still thinking about loneliness.

Loki grins. “I gave Kate crabs.”

“Oh—!” Kate smacks his shoulders until he bends his knees to let her down, and then she flops down on her towel with a huff and mutters, “Dumb jerk.”

“That’s not what you said last night,” says Loki, winking at her. Kate chucks her sunscreen at his head and only misses because he knocks it out of the air to Verity’s feet. She’s sitting under the umbrella on her towel, so Kate asks her to pass some snacks out of the cooler. They open up the chips and dip, and Loki and Thor hog the beef jerky. Lucky sits next to Thor and looks longingly at the dried meat, so Kate reaches into her bag for the dog treats and gives him a few. She pours him a bowl of water, too, while she’s thinking about it, and sets it on a mound of sand to keep it clean.

“Thor, quit eating all the jerky,” complains Loki, trying to snatch the bag from his brother’s hands from where he’s lying on his back. Thor smirks and holds them out of reach as Loki flails his arms.

Kate tosses the bag of dog treats onto his chest. “Eat these,” she suggests.

“Ugh. You’re so mean. I’m _glad_ I gave you crabs.”

Verity snorts and offers him the bag of carrot sticks Kate brought. Loki only brought junk food—chips, more jerky, some cookies that Kate isn’t going to touch because he claims to have made them himself—and America and Thor contributed drinks and sausages (for later), respectively.

“Verity,” says Loki, “those are _vegetables_.”

Verity rolls her eyes. “You’re going to get scurvy,” she says, fishing a carrot stick out of the bag for herself.

“Gods don’t get scurvy,” says Loki.

Verity presses a carrot stick against Loki’s firmly closed lips. “Eat it.”

Loki whines in protest as the others laugh and Verity force-feeds him. He starts to laugh, too, but then he coughs and turns onto his side. Kate hears him cough “bitch,” but Verity just laughs and crunches another carrot stick between her teeth.

“Grow up, chico,” says America.

Loki coughs out a laugh again. “I did. It didn’t help.”

“Loki, just last week, you made those fancy sautéed Japanese carrots for me,” says Verity. “You have _nothing_ against vegetables.”

“Ah, the sacrifices I make for friendship, Verity…”

“You ate more than I did.”

“Shh,” says Loki, pressing a finger to her lips. “I have a reputation to uphold, you know.”

Verity smacks his hand away and laughs, and Kate finds herself grinning and she thinks that everything is going to be okay. _Everyone_ is going to be okay. She glances at America and America meets her eyes and smirks and shrugs, and yeah, everything is going to be okay.

“I propose a game of chicken,” Kate announces, standing up.

“Chicken?” says Thor, frowning.

“Teams of two, one person sits on the other’s shoulders and tries to push the other team over.”

Thor’s face lights up. “Ah, we have this battle game. But we call it by another name.”

“What’s that?” asks Verity, drawing tattoos on Loki’s arms with sunscreen.

“Fandraling,” says Loki, and Thor protests and smacks his shoulder, laughing.

“I think I shall sit out for this game,” says Thor. “I fear it might be… unfair, were I to join.”

“Braggart,” says Loki, and Thor shoves him with a foot. “Hey! Watch the new tats, bro!”

“In that case, America and Loki have to play bottom,” says Kate, and when America makes a face, she rolls her eyes and explains, “You guys are stronger and Loki weighs like a billion pounds.”

Loki huffs. “ _Rude_. I’m not playing then. I’m just not a _bottom_ sort of person.”

“Liar,” says Verity, and then she claps her hand over her mouth, wide-eyed. Kate and America burst out laughing and Loki stares at them and then at Verity.

“You told them?” he asks her. She nods with a sheepish smile. Thor groans and covers his face with a hand.

“I did not need to know that, Brother,” says Thor.

Loki pats his arm sympathetically and stands up. “Well, since we’re all out now, let’s play.”

They walk down to the water as a group and Kate and Verity draw straws for teams. Kate loses and gets Loki. The four of them wade out into waist-deep water and Thor stands at the shore with Lucky to judge. Kate climbs up onto Loki’s shoulders while Verity and America wait.

“You know, Kate,” says Loki, holding onto her calves to keep her steady, “if you wanted my head between your legs, all you had to do was ask, I would have happily obliged.”

Kate yanks on his hair and he yelps out a laugh. “Quiet, you,” she says. “And _charge!_ ”

 

* * *

 

Some days Verity just doesn’t go outside. Some days it’s just too much to go out into the world and see through everything, every façade, every casual falsehood. Every billboard covered in lies to promote consumerism, every voice on a crowded street spewing falsehoods to create some persona that they project to the world, because this is New York and no one is real and everyone is afraid. Verity knows things about people, about their hearts, that no one should know, that they don’t know anyone else knows, and sometimes it’s too much. Sometimes she just can’t handle _knowing_.

Sometimes she wonders if this is her supervillain origin story.

So when Loki—an actual (former) supervillain who just happens to be her friend and maybe even is becoming her _best_ friend—invited her out to the beach, she almost retreated to her bed to crawl under the covers and hide until he left.

Of course, when had that ever worked?

“Why not?” he asked, actually _pouting_. Was he four years old?

“I don’t… want to,” she said, hugging herself around her waist.

Loki blinked at her. “You… don’t want to?”

“No.”

His face was completely unguarded as a series of emotions flicked across his features, including but not limited to puzzlement, anger, and—was that hurt?

“Why not?” he asked again, apparently confused above all else. Verity could appreciate his effort to drop his masks.

She shifted her weight and bit her lip. “Because I don’t… I don’t feel well today.”

“You don’t feel well?”

“Yes,” she snapped, and sneered at him. “What are you, a parrot? I don’t feel well. Don’t you know what that feels like? Surely even the Great Pretender Loki doesn’t feel well sometimes.”

Loki stared at her and she wanted to kick herself. That was an awful thing to say. This was exactly why she shouldn’t leave the house today.

“Yes,” he said quietly, “I do.”

Shit.

“I—” he began, but faltered. He frowned and cleared his throat. “What… Er… What’s wrong?” he tried again, and the question came out in a higher pitch, almost like he had never put those words in that order before and wasn’t sure if he was saying them correctly.

Verity sighed and looked down. “I just… I can’t handle it today. I can’t go outside and be a goddamn human being. I can’t deal with it.”

“With what?” he asked, bewildered.

“With—with—” Verity sank down onto her couch and clutched her head between her hands. “Lies,” she finished hoarsely. “All of it. All of them. The whole universe’s lies.” And even worse; its _truths_.

Loki was silent for a long time, standing in the middle of her living room in flip flops and a ridiculous tank top, and Verity felt bad that she had to ruin his plans. Verity Willis: Wet Blanket and Ruiner of Everything.

“I don’t know what to do,” said Loki at last. “So I’m just going to tell you the truth, if that’s all right.” Before she could respond, he dropped his duffel and kneeled down in front of her. “It’s terribly selfish of me, I know, but I want you to come out with me today. I ran into an old… er… teammate last night, and she proposed a beach day, and even though I said yes, I’m not sure I’m ready to face her as a friend. But you’re my friend and I want you to be there.”

“Loki…” Verity bit her lip. “I can’t...”

“I can’t really imagine what you’re going through,” he said, taking her hand. “But I do know a thing or two about bad days. If you really want to be alone, I’ll leave, but these are good people—heroes, even—and maybe being around good people for once will help you feel better.”

Verity snorted. “Does it ever make _you_ feel better?”

“No, but I’m not a good person, and you are. Maybe it works differently for people like you.”

She snorted again but said nothing. Even good people tell lies. The myth of Santa Claus is perpetuated by well-meaning adults. Every time Captain America is on TV telling people everything will be okay, Verity cringes. (Stark is worse; she turns off the TV immediately whenever he comes on.) White lies are well-meaning, but they’re still lies. And good people—especially heroes—tell white lies all the time.

Some days it wouldn’t bother her and she could look past it, ignore it, just _deal_ with it.

Today was not one of those days.

“How do you do it?” she muttered.

“Do what?”

“Get up every day and look people in the eye and lie to them and allow them to lie to you?” Her voice cracked as she held back a thickness in her throat. “How do you deal with that?”

Loki rubbed gentle circles on the back of her hand with his thumb and Verity tried to swallow. She wished she could crawl into bed and sleep the rest of this horrible day away.

“Have you ever considered that maybe I don’t?” said Loki at last. Verity finally met his eyes and he smiled sadly. “I’m drowning in as many lies as you are, Verity. Maybe more. I try not to think about it.”

“I don’t have that luxury,” she murmured.

Loki squeezed her hand. “I know. So I’ll make you a deal. You come out with me today, and I’ll tell you no lies. Just for today. Not even lies of omission.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Implying that you’ve lied to me by omission before?”

“I’m lying to you by omission right now,” he admitted. “But we’ll save _that_ story for another day. Today you get the deal of a lifetime: A beach day with a lie-free Loki. I can’t make any promises about the other poor saps on the beach, however. They might be shit out of luck. I am _Loki_ , after all.”

Verity breathed out a laugh and Loki grinned.

“There’s a smile,” he said, squeezing her hand again. “So what do you say? I should tell you, this is a limited-time, BFF-only deal. I wouldn’t offer this to just anyone.”

Verity bit back a smile. “That’s… really sweet, but…”

“Thor will be there,” said Loki. “You like Thor, right? _Everybody_ likes Thor.”

“You really believe that, don’t you?”

“And Kate and America are cool. Well, Kate is. America is cool in the sense that she’ll very coldly beat my head in with a block of ice, but if she does, I’ll deserve it, so…”

Verity laughed outright at that and Loki stood, pulling her up with him.

“I made you laugh,” he said cheerfully. “That means you _have_ to come now.” He flashed his teeth and raising his chin triumphantly. “You know, a wise man once said that there’s no better cure for a sour face than a couple of boards and some choice waves.” She laughed again and shook her head, and he shook her hands impatiently. “Come on, Verity. Everyone deserves a day in the sun.”

So she agreed to come with him, because now she wasn’t even sure that she could stand sitting alone in her apartment feeling sorry for herself. Maybe a day at a beach with her new friend who promised not to lie to her just this once was just what she needed.

_I’m drowning in as many lies as you are, Verity._

She had been wondering why she was so drawn to Loki. Now she thinks maybe she knows.

As the sun sets and Thor begins to teach Verity how to build a proper campfire, she thinks she does feel a little better. There have been other groups on the beach all day, but they kept to themselves and Verity could hardly hear them over the real laughter of her companions and the occasional plane flying overhead. The beach itself is blank and empty of lies; no billboards in sight, and the parts that are manmade don’t even try to look otherwise. It feels like the realest place she’s been in a long time.

“Just say the word and I’ll toss you a lighter,” says America once they’ve stacked the wood and kindling to Thor’s satisfaction.

“We have no need for a lighter,” says Thor gruffly. “We’re making an honest fire. All we need is—”

“You make everything so hard, Brother,” says Loki, fetching the Frisbee he and Kate are tossing around from where it fell near the cooler. He used some sort of magic to make the edge light up like a green jellyfish so they wouldn’t lose it in the fading daylight. “Modern conveniences are there for a reason.”

“You would always look for a shortcut, Loki,” retorts Thor.

Loki purses his lips and raises his hand and the tips of his fingers began to glow green.

“Stop,” says Verity. “I want to learn how to do this. It’s a valuable life skill.”

Loki snorts, but he drops his hand. “A valuable life skill would be learning how to operate a Starkphone.”

“I know how, Loki,” says Thor. “I just prefer other methods of communication.”

“Whatever,” says Loki, and he turns and tosses the Frisbee back to Kate before following it back down to the water where they’re playing.

Once he’s out of earshot, Verity nudges Thor’s foot with her own. When he looks up, she smirks.

“I’m not sure, but I think that’s Loki-code for ‘text me, bro,’” she tells him.

Thor grunts. “I have never been able to decipher Loki’s codes,” he mutters.

“If it makes you feel any better, I can only do it because illusions and evasions of truth don’t fool me.”

“I do try to call him every so often,” says Thor, “but then he complains I call _too much_.”

“He says you call during missions sometimes,” says Verity. “And you know probably better than I do that he likes to do things in his own time.”

Thor rolls his eyes and focuses back on the fire, and Verity supposes that this is fair because building a fire is probably easier than trying to understand Loki’s motivations. The sad thing is, Thor has probably been doing both for the same amount of time.

Verity watches attentively as Thor shows her how to coax fire out of wood with only friction and patience. He makes her try it and after what seems like _too much time_ struggling with the stupid stick, smoke rises from the wood. Thor stokes it with some kindling until a flame really _actually_ lights up the wood. Within minutes they have a decent sized fire and Verity feels absurdly proud of it, even though she suspects Thor did most of the work.

“Oh sweet,” says Kate, dropping down next to America. Lucky runs over to Verity to drop the glowing Frisbee in her lap, and she gives him a head scratch in return. “Nice fire, guys. Now we can break out the sausages and fireworks.”

“Ah, my two favorite things,” says Loki, settling at Verity’s side. Thor grins and turns to fish out the sausages from the cooler, and Verity turns the Frisbee in her hands, trying to figure out how the lights work. They’re just little dots of light hovering at the edge of the plastic, apparently not attached by anything. She wonders how they stick to the Frisbee. Attraction at the molecular level? Unless they’re actually just _light_ particles, in which case—

Suddenly the lights multiply and begin to spin around the edge of the Frisbee, and Verity looks up in surprise to see Loki smirking at her. She raises an unimpressed eyebrow and tosses the Frisbee into his lap.

“It looks like a jellyfish,” she says.

“It’s even freakier when it falls in the water,” says Kate. “I do _not_ want to be stung by something I _think_ is a Frisbee.”

“Their stingers still work outside of water, too,” says Verity. “They don’t have a central nervous system to die and stop it, so if the tentacles are disturbed, they still shoot out these poisonous barbs.”

Kate shudders and America looks impressed. “That’s pretty cool, actually,” says America.

“Jellyfish are pretty cool,” says Verity. “Their reproductive cycle is neat, too. It’s got a sexual stage and an asexual stage—”

“Ooh, yes, Verity,” says Loki, “talk to me more about reproduction.”

Verity rears back and slugs his arm and he laughs and falls dramatically to the side. Verity sees Kate and America exchange glances for what must be the fiftieth time that day, but she doesn’t care. She and Loki might have met under romantic circumstances—or someone’s version of romance anyway—but they are just friends now. And that is perfectly all right for now, no matter what flirting they might do. Verity isn’t quite sure she is prepared for anything else right now. Not with Loki anyway. And there is still a lot she doesn’t know about him, and she’s content to learn slowly.

They are halfway through the immense amount of sausages Thor brought when Kate stands and declares that it’s dark enough now for fireworks.

“Aren’t fireworks illegal here?” asks Verity, as Kate rips the packages of some sparklers open.

“We’ve never claimed to be _lawful_ good,” says Kate. “Besides, they’re only sparklers,” she adds, passing them around.

“If we get caught, I’ll teleport you out of here,” says Loki. “And then, hey, maybe you’ll be on the news. _Beautiful Ginger Spirited Away by Firework-Wielding Trickster God_. It’ll be a great story.”

Verity rolls her eyes, taking a sparkler dubiously, and follows suit when everyone gets to their feet to light them in the campfire. Kate’s and Loki’s catch first, spitting colorful sparks, and they jump away from the campfire to wave them around in the dark.

“Stupefy!” Loki shouts, pointing his sparkler at Kate, and Verity is glad they’re standing several paces from each other. She doesn’t understand what he’s said, but Kate seems to, because she laughs and mirrors him.

“Petrificus totalus!” Kate cries, waving her sparkler at him.

“Protego! Tarantallegra!”

“Expelliarmus!”

And it is at that moment that Loki’s sparkler dies. He stares at it in his hand for a moment and then looks up at Kate, who looks just as surprised. Then they burst out laughing.

“What are they doing?” asks Verity, completely puzzled. “Why are they shouting in really bad Latin?”

“Harry Potter,” says America, which only sort of explains anything. America draws a star in the air with her sparkler. “I try to ignore the dorks when they’re dorking around.”

“Aww, you love it,” says Loki, trudging back across the sand for a new sparkler.

“Is fake magic really all that exciting when you can do real magic?” asks Kate. She is carrying a pail of sea water back from the shore for their used sparklers.

“Do you ever ask Kaplan that?” Loki retorts. He raises his new sparkler up. “Aguamenti!” he shouts, and the water from the pail splashes up onto Kate’s legs. She shrieks in surprise and nearly drops the pail, and then she glares at him.

“Loki, god damn it! I just got dry!”

He just grins toothily. Kate lights another sparkler and chases him with it and they disappear into the dark when their fires go out. Kate shrieks and Loki laughs, and Lucky runs out into the dark after them.

“I really hope they’re not trying to throw each other in the water,” says Verity, putting her hands in her sweatshirt and shuddering.

“If Princess manages it, I’ll be impressed,” says America. “Chico’s another story.”

“I would hope my brother knows better,” says Thor, stepping up next to Verity. He is holding two lit sparklers and offers her one, and she pulls a hand out from her pocket to take it. “But that is probably a foolish hope.”

“Self-control is not one of his more impressive traits,” says Verity.

America laughs. “Wanna share what you think _is_ an impressive trait of his?”

Verity looks down and scuffs the sand with her foot. It’s not an easy thing to explain. She thinks maybe at first she was attracted to the way he could tell her a story that is frankly ridiculous—his mother’s head emerging from a punch bowl? Lorelei escaping from a locked casino vault via vanishing purse?—but also true. And she does enjoy that. Over the last few weeks, Loki has told her tons of fantastic stories and they’ve all been true. And that’s something she never thought she would have.

But it’s more than that, too. He’s _kind_ to her. He hasn’t alienated her because of her power—which, by all rights, should scare him off, especially as the God of Lies. But he sticks around and texts her funny pictures and cooks for her and lends her books and outlandish documentaries and drags her out to the beach all the way across the country on days when she would rather lay in bed and cry and makes her feel better.

Because she _feels better_.

“Well, he’s got a nice butt,” she says aloud, because it’s easier to joke than admit to all of _that_. America rewards her with a laugh, and even Thor chuckles, but Verity feels a little guilty so she does try to voice a real reason. “I dunno. He makes me laugh. And he’s not a bad cook either.”

“Yeah, those cookies were pretty good,” America admits with a shrug.

“That’s _baking_ ,” says Verity. “I said he’s a good _cook_. He can’t bake worth a shit. You should have seen the Great Cake Disaster of last week. Today’s baked goods might be a fluke.”

America laughs again.

“I think we also might have more in common than I’m comfortable admitting,” says Verity, looking down again. Her sparkler has gone out, so she drops it in the bucket at their feet.

America snorts. “Are you a recovering supervillain, too?”

“You know there’s more to him than that,” says Verity.

America’s tense silence surprises Verity, and then America seems to brush it off. “Yeah. I guess so.”

Thor nudges Verity and gives her an appreciative smirk, and she smiles back.

They light another round of sparklers, and Kate and Lucky return to their camp. Kate takes the sparkler Thor offers and nudges Lucky behind them.

“Back, Lucky, you’ll get burned,” she says.

“Where’s Loki?” asks Verity, squinting into the dark.

“I murdered him and threw his body into the sea,” says Kate, dead-pan. “Sorry, Thor.”

Thor shrugs. “Oh well. I have other brothers.”

“ _Rude_.”

They all turn to see Loki standing on the other side of the fire with his arms crossed over his chest.

“I see how it is,” he says. “People will mourn all over for Thor, but Thor can’t spare a thought for Loki. For _shame_ , Brother. I’m doubly offended if you think _Balder_ might be enough brother for you.”

Thor manages to smother a smirk, but Verity can see it pulling at his lips. “Ah, I knew I didn’t need to mourn, for here you are! Back from the dead.” He walks around the fire, arms spread wide. “Come, Loki, let us celebrate your not-being-dead.” He swings an arm around to put Loki in a headlock, but Loki ducks and evades him.

“No, don’t touch me,” says Loki, backing away as Thor advances on him. “You’re an awful brother. Shouldn’t you take revenge on Kate for throwing my body in the ocean?”

“I knew I should have dug a hole,” Kate says to America and Verity.

“See?” says Loki. “She shows no remorse. You would allow her to inflict bodily harm on your brother?”

“You’re right,” says Thor. “Only I’m allowed to inflict harm on you!”

He lunges for Loki and catches his arm, and Loki shouts out protests as Thor pulls him into a hug.

“Unhand me, you oaf! Don’t touch me! Ughhhh…!”

Loki goes limp in Thor’s arms and throws his head back to feign death with his tongue sticking out, and Thor laughs heartily and shakes him.

“No, Brother, don’t die!”

“You’ve smothered me with your hugging,” Loki comes alive long enough to say, and then he says, “Bleh,” and pretends to die again.

“Ah, he is dead,” says Thor with a pout. “It is a good thing we have a fire. Now we needn’t build a funeral pyre.” He starts to drag Loki toward the campfire and Loki miraculously comes back to life again.

“Augh, no, Thor, stop!” he says, struggling in Thor’s grip. Thor just laughs and picks him up so his legs flail in the air, and he walks them to the fire. He spins around at the last second to drop Loki on the sand, and they both laugh, Thor still holding onto Loki’s sides. He doesn’t seem to want to let go, and Verity wonders if their whole farce hits a little too close to home. But maybe that’s why they joke about it; because if they can’t joke about it, then they would have to admit how much it scares them.

When they both straighten, Thor releases Loki and ruffles his hair. Loki retaliates by kicking Thor in the stomach, but it’s without much force. They light a few more sparklers, and Loki and America perform “feats of bravery,” which just means they take turns leaping over the fire. Thor tries a few times, too, but Verity and Kate opt out.

“I’m _not_ burning my ass tonight,” says Kate, and Verity agrees. She sits with Kate and Lucky near the cooler and they finish off the chips and dip together while the other three show off how utterly foolish and competitive they are.

“Are they gonna walk on hot coals next, too?” mutters Verity.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” says Kate. “But I hope they don’t expect _me_ to drive them to the hospital.” She falls silent and digs her toes into the sand, suddenly seeming nervous, so Verity waits. “I, uh… Sorry about that.”

Verity frowns. “About what?”

“Uh, earlier. When you asked where Loki was.” Kate bites her lip and looks up at her. “He said it bothers you, lies and stuff. I didn’t mean to—”

“Kate, it’s all right,” says Verity, laughing a little out of relief. “You were joking. It’s… The intention matters. It’s different.”

Kate smiles uncertainly. “You sure?”

Verity smiles back. “Yeah. I knew what you meant. Everyone did. It wasn’t a _lie_ , per se. I mean,” she adds, just for clarification’s sake, “it _registers_ as a lie, but if sarcasm and jokes bothered me, I’d be done for.”

Kate’s smile is genuine now. “All right. Still, I didn’t mean to say it so flippantly. If it registers as a lie, I was afraid it might bother you anyway.”

Verity looks down. “Sometimes it does. But not right now.” Maybe this morning it would have, but not now. She can hardly believe it was only half a day ago that she thought she would never be able to handle a lie ever again.

She looks up again to look for Loki. He is standing next to the fire with Thor and America, and they’re all laughing and talking, and she sort of can’t believe her luck.

“Damn,” says Kate, and when Verity looks back at her, she is dropping her backpack, looking disappointed. “We’re out of fireworks.”

“But, baby, _you’re_ a firework,” says Loki from next to the fire, and America snorts out a laugh.

“You know, if you keep flirting with me, I might start to think you actually like me,” says Kate, smirking.

Loki laughs. “We can’t have that. You’re smelly, Kate, and your hair is stupid.”

“Lies,” Verity says in a stage whisper to Kate. Loki mimes throwing something at her, and Kate laughs and moves closer to the fire now that the others seem to have finished jumping over it. Verity follows her and picks up a stick to poke the fire. They only have a few more sticks and it’s running low. Lucky is asleep on a towel next to the cooler and Verity thinks she could probably drop off soon, too.

Kate pulls Lucky’s towel closer to the fire and he wakes up briefly to reposition himself and set his head on her lap. “Still sad about no fireworks,” she says with a sigh.

“In consolation, there are a few more sausages,” says Thor, picking up the bag from his towel. He jumps when something pops behind him and turns. Loki smiles sheepishly.

“Eh heh heh… Sorry,” he says.

“What was that?” asks Kate.

Loki shrugs. “Well, I can’t conjure more sparklers, but…” He snaps his fingers and a ball of light pops into existence above his hand. He takes hold of it, leans back, and throws it up into the air where it bursts into an actual firework. It doesn’t leave a trail of smoke like a real firework would, and the light reminds Verity more of LED lights than fire, but it’s beautiful and Kate claps.

Loki grins. “I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but…” He turns, takes a deep breath, and then he’s throwing more balls of light into the air and they all burst soundlessly and shine in the dark sky. One burst shatters and turns into green and gold stars, and another turns into a purple ribbon that swirls around until it fades away. The third is a dance of red and blue stars, the fourth flashes several times like lightning, and the last is brilliantly lit flowers and twinkling lights. Kate is clapping and whooping and Lucky wakes up to bark and leap under the lights. When the last begins to fade, Loki turns around to grin triumphantly at them and he takes a bow as they all clap.

“Now _that’s_ a finale,” says Kate.

“Kate, have I ever told you you’re my favorite Young Avenger?” says Loki with a lazy grin, meandering casually over to sit next to Verity. He’s rubbing his hands together a little, and he even blows on his fingers briefly.

“Aww, don’t say that,” says Kate, grinning back. “America’s sitting right there.”

America snorts and Kate shoots her a smirk.

“No offense, Chavez,” Loki assures her.

“I’ll take the light tribute as compensation for the insult and we’ll call it even.”

“Liked that, did you?” Loki says with a leer. America just smirks back at him.

“So who’s your favorite Avenger then?” asks Kate, rubbing Lucky’s flank as he sits down next to her again.

Loki gasps. “Don’t ask that! If I don’t say Thor, he’ll be angry!”

Thor grins from where he’s skewering another sausage. “Am I not your favorite Avenger, Brother?”

Loki rolls his eyes. “See?”

“I want to hear you say it, Brother,” says Thor. “Say it. Say I’m your favorite Avenger.”

“You’re my favorite Avenger, Thor,” says Loki in a monotone, and Thor laughs. “Is it true, Verity?” he prompts her, leaning back on his hands.

“It’s true,” she says, and they all laugh. Loki nudges her and she smiles back at him.

They sit back and Thor tells a story—something about battling giant beasts that Verity has never heard of before—and it’s all fantastic and true, even if he doesn’t spin a tale quite as well as Loki does. Loki jumps in here and there to add details or to berate Thor for exaggerating his prowess, but it’s all in good fun and they all laugh until the fire dies and it’s later than they should all strictly be out. Especially considering the time difference for when she and Loki get back to New York.

They pack up camp, throwing water over the embers in the fire pit and carrying all of Kate’s things to her car. Verity helps her lay towels down in the back seat for Lucky, and when they’re done, Kate gives her a hug.

“I’ll look you up next time I’m in New York,” she promises.

Verity can’t hold back a smile. “I think I’d like that.”

America actually hugs her, too. “Keep chico outta trouble, yeah?”

“I can’t make any promises.”

America smirks and nods, and then she turns to kick Loki in the backside. He starts and whirls around to glare at her.

“See ya around,” she says, and Loki rolls his eyes and raises an eyebrow.

“You know…” he begins.

“Nope,” says America, and then she kicks off the ground and actually _flies_ away.

Verity watches her until she disappears into the dark sky, shocked, and she jumps when she feels Loki take her hand.

“Ready to go home?” he asks.

She smiles. “Yeah. I’m exhausted.”

“Get your rest, Verity,” says Thor. “You will need it for Loki’s caper.”

“What caper?” asks Kate as she gets into her car. “What are you up to?”

Loki wiggles his fingers at her. “Mischief.”

Kate rolls her eyes, bids them all good night, and then they all wave until she rolls away in her car.

“Well,” says Loki, “that was a nice team bonding outing.”

Thor raises an eyebrow. “I believe we were missing a member, if that was your intention.”

“Lorelei is uncomfortable around heroes,” says Loki. “She declined to participate. But we’re getting drinks tomorrow, so that’s something.”

“Be careful, Brother,” warns Thor.

“You don’t need to tell _me_ that.”

Thor pulls his hammer out from its case and takes his leave, leaving only Loki and Verity on the sidewalk. It’s quiet and dark and the waves gently crash against the shore. Loki, still holding Verity’s hand, turns and begins to walk down the street at a leisurely pace, swinging their arms slightly.

“Did you have fun?” he asks.

Verity smiles. “Yes. Thank you.”

“Good. I was worried that perhaps I _forced_ you to come.”

“Well, you sort of did. But it’s okay. I actually feel a lot better.”

He smiles a little sadly at her. “I’m glad. I confess, I’m new to this friend thing. I hope I’m not screwing up too badly.”

Verity chuckles a little. “No, this is… This was good. Thank you. I’m…” She pauses and then breathes out a chuckle, a little embarrassed. “I’m glad we’re friends.”

When he doesn’t reply, she feels foolish and hopes the darkness hides her blush, and then Loki lets out a relieved sigh.

“Yeah,” he says. “Me too. You have no idea how—” He sighs again. “Me too.”

Verity squeezes his hand. “Now take me home, you no-good mischief-maker.”

Loki laughs. “Sure thing, BFF.”


End file.
